She stairtit her actin career in 1948 an made ower 240 films in the wuxia, kung fu, action, detective an Cantonese opera genres. Her films wur successful at the box-office an she wis ane o the maist popular superstarns o the 1960 in Asie an Hong Kong.

Yu learned Peking Opera at the age o aicht an made her stage debut at the age o nine. She specialisit in playin female warrior roles in which she coud skillfully demonstrate her fuitwirk bi continuously jugglin an kickin back twal red-tasselled tuo shou (脫手) spears, as seen in ane o her famous stage Peking operas, The White Snake (白蛇傳), an in the 1951 film Amazon on the Sea (海上女霸王).

Her first movie wis made in 1948, a Mandarin wuxia film cried The Kung Fu Couple (宏碧緣 ). She wis ane o the three actresses in the 1950s who really ken mairtial airts. Aff the screen, she wis virtually a heroine: at the age o saxteen, she alane successfully focht aff a group o gangsters wi anerly a silky belt on the streets o Shanghai. She wis able tae dae aw the stunts, punches an acrobatic skills bi hersel in aw her action films.

Her performances in Cantonese opera wur quite different; she brocht in a mixtur o Peking Opera, in which she performit a lot o fuitwirk, as in Suet Ting Shan and Fan Lai Hua - Meeting on the Weedy River (蘆花河會母) in 1961, Giving birth on the bridge – the White serpent (斷橋產子) in 1962 an How Zhong Wuyan Conquered the West (鍾無艷掛帥征西) in 1962. She played a male lead as seen in movies Execution of Lui Po at Pak Moon Lau (白門樓斬呂布) in 1961 an aw, Two hunters in a pursuit (文武狀元爭彩鳳) in 1962 an The beauties (陣陣美人威) in 1964. Apairt frae action films, she did a few rare contemporar an melodrama films, for example Midsummer night’s romance (夏夜之戀) in 1953, Bachelors beware (溫柔鄉) in 1960 an Two mouthy ladies from the north and south (南北鐵咀雞) in 1965.

Her gowden age o filmin wis aetween 1963 an 1966, when she made at least thirty movies in a year. Despite her fame an her leadin position, she did tak pairt in movies as a villainous wumman, a role uisually rejectit bi ither actresses who wur afraid o damagin their image. Housomeivver, Yu pruivit that her talent in actin wis no limitit tae action films. Her surprise roles in The big revenge part 1 and 2 (灕江河畔血海仇) (1963) an Heaven, Hell and Crystal Palace (天堂地獄水晶宮) (1965) did no destroy her popularity nor upset her fans; insteid they wan the herts o the audience.

She marriet famous Cantonese opera actor, Mak Bing Wing, in 1966. Her last major movie wis filmit in Taiwan (Decree of the fire dragon (血火龍令) in 1968) an she made a guest appearance in Secret agent no.1 (神探一號) in 1970. Suin efter that she wis completely retired frae the limelicht. She is nou settled in San Francisco wi her five childer.

In 2004, Yu wis ane o the celebrities honoured on the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong. Tae date, Yu still haulds the record amang actresses o makkin mair than 170 wuxia movies. Tho she did no gain any internaitional awairds afore her retirement (acause Hong Kong wuxia picturs wur acceptit internaitionally only recently), she is recognisit as a "queen" o mairtial airtists an actresses bi her fans for her devotion tae, an excellence in, wuxia films.